Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox seems to be pulling a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" act this spring.
Last night, he pitched fantastically, giving up just two hits and striking out 10 batters in eight scoreless innings as he led the Sox to a much-needed 4-0 win against the New York Yankees.
Beckett looked like a completely different pitcher last night compared to his puzzling, mediocre performance in his season debut last week. Last night, Beckett looked as sharp as he has in at least two years, or maybe even back as far as his 2007 season, when he went 20-7 and led the Red Sox to a championship. Some, including this writer, didn't think he had it in him.
No one—including Beckett—has adequately attempted to explain how or why he could transform himself over five days to look so different. I'm convinced there is more to this story than what we've heard so far.
In his April 5th season opener vs. the Cleveland Indians, Beckett seemed to be trying to "reinvent" himself. He gave up three runs on five hits in only five innings. He threw more off-speed pitches than ever, including 27 changeups. His fastball that night was clocked mostly at 92 mph and often at 90 mph, and he couldn't throw it by Cleveland hitters.
Beckett didn't look like a "power pitcher" anymore, and his performance left many wondering if he could succeed with his "new" approach.
Last night, in the first two innings, Beckett was back to his old approach, mixing a moving fastball with a biting curveball as he struck out four of the first seven Yankee batters. He went on to keep Yankee hitters off balance all night.
He showed confidence in his fastball, which was often clocked at 94 mph and had more life. His fastball hasn't looked that good since at least the middle of the 2009 season. He threw his curveball much more crisply and accurately than in his first game. He got a good share of his strikeouts on his curveball. He also threw his two-seam fastball effectively against the Yankees' left-handed hitters.
Beckett's control was much better last night. He often got ahead in the count, and this is no small feat against the Yankees, who tend to take maximum advantage of walks. Oh yeah, until last night, the Yankees had "owned" Beckett during most of his outings the past few years, particularly in 2010, when Beckett posted a 10.04 ERA vs. the Bombers in five starts against them.
So what happened in the five days between Beckett's first start and his second, last night?
Beckett, unsurprisingly, didn't volunteer comments about any major changes or developments. Manager Terry Francona, predictably, said nothing illuminating about it. The only reasonable interpretation I've heard was offered by Orel Hershiser, one of ESPN's television crew last night, when he appeared as a guest on Boston's WEEI's Dennis and Callahan show on Monday morning.
Hershiser said that because Beckett was coming back from injuries last season, he might have started the season with the injuries "in his head." He said that sometimes it takes a while for such a pitcher to improve his mechanics.
Hershiser also said that pitching against the Yankees in a big game when Beckett's adrenaline was flowing might have helped him forget about his injuries and just throw the ball more naturally. He said Beckett had good "finish" on his pitches Sunday night. He noticed he had a good "tailing hard fastball" that he kept low to hitters.
Interestingly, I noticed that Beckett apparently told The Boston Globe that "physical issues" had caused his problems on the mound last year. I also noticed that in Tom Verducci's April 8th article on SI.com, he wrote, "The Red Sox said [Beckett] was plagued by back issues [in 2010]; a source close to the team said Beckett's shoulder also wasn't right."
What's amazing is that despite playing under heavy media scrutiny in Boston, Beckett repeatedly has told reporters only what he wants about the state of his arm while, obviously, keeping some important details private. At the end of both the 2008 and 2009 seasons, for example, when Beckett suffered physical ailments, he avoided discussing some details with reporters, and fans were left a bit in the dark.
Based on what Beckett has shown in 2011, I sense that there was more wrong with him last year than he or the Red Sox have discussed publicly. That would help explain why he pitched so differently and tentatively in his first start of 2011 before pitching a gem last night. It was as if he felt he could let loose last night without worrying about his arm.
Let's hope he can repeat the mechanics that worked well last night.
"He was probably as good today as since...I can't remember when," Derek Jeter of the Yankees told the NY Post. "He threw 94-95 mph, and I don't think one of them was straight."
"That's the guy I remember seeing when I first came up," Yankee slugger Robinson Cano told the NY Times.
Beckett went back in time last night. It'll be fascinating to see if he can stay in this revived form now.
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